


Poltergeist

by one_tired_creator



Series: Poltergeist [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2019-11-21 06:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18138386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_tired_creator/pseuds/one_tired_creator
Summary: After following James Sanchez around for a while, a ghost, Forest Thornfield, decides to take action to help James in a fight. He may have gone too far





	1. To Duel or Not To Duel

The biggest mistake of my life was being noticed. Well, I should say afterlife. Yeah, I’m dead. A ghost to be precise. I’ve been wandering around my hometown for nearly thirty years. I've seen this town grow. I've seen my friends from high school finish college, grow up and get married, so on. It’s serene. I honestly don’t know how I've managed to remain here, and I didn’t simply move on. That is, until I decided to be a little helpful.

It was mid-October, about a month into the school year. I, as always, had been watching the students at the local high school trudge through their classes. I had especially been keeping tabs on this one guy, a new kid in the Junior class. From what I had heard, his name was James Sanchez. He had dark wavy hair which he styled back, sort of in a 20’s type style. He was somewhat small, with large square glasses. Essentially, he was someone who I’d date. Based on looks alone, he seemed like he could be popular. However, he carried around notebooks and sketchbooks, full of random papers and drawings. He was immediately labeled a nerd. He would get picked on, get called stupid names, and basically treated like trash. I wanted to do something about it, but I couldn’t risk being noticed. I’d give people heart attacks. That is, until the bullying got worse, that fateful day in October.

The day went as usual: the normal classes, the lunches where the “popular” kids tried to ruff up James, and the 3 o’clock bell ringing. However, after school was an entirely different story. Instead of walking home with no troubles, James was stopped by one of the biggest guys at school. The dude loomed over him. “Can I...help you?” he asked, subtly holding his books closer. 

“Yeah, you can help me. You can humor me,” the bigger guy growled. “Gimme those books. I wanna see what you spend all your time doing, nerd.” 

James tensed. “I...It-it’s nothing. You really don’t wanna see it...seriously.” 

Obviously, that wasn’t the answer the big dude was expecting. He grabbed James by the collar and dragged him close to his big ugly face. If I knew one thing about bullying, I knew this was when someone else interfered. But no one did. The path around them was empty. Except for me. I had to help...somehow. 

I guess you could say, if I were alive, that I ran over to the interaction. I was maybe fifteen feet away when it began, so it didn’t take long for me to reach them. The bully was still holding onto James with one hand, and in the other was wrestling the books out of his arms. I sighed. Typical bully behavior.  _ I guess it’s about time I show myself. _ I thought, preparing of the worst. 

“Give. Me. The. Stupid. Book!” The bully snarled, shaking James. I tried to grab his arm, but my hand just phased right through him. Guess plan A didn’t work. Plan B it is. I grabbed the notebook and began to push towards the bigger guy. It worked, albeit a little too well. I nearly launched the guy a good eight feet. He landed unceremoniously in a clump of bushes.

“What the  _ hell? _ ” He groaned, crawling out of the dead twigs and leaves. “You some kind of weird witch boy or something? Pushing me with some kind of magic?!” He shouted, beginning to back away. 

“What? No! I...that...what?” James stuttered, also taking several steps away, shivering. I hadn’t left his side and couldn’t understand why he was shaking. It was a nice day and he had just “won” a fight. 

The jock searched James over again and sneered. “This...we’re not done.” He said weakly, scampering away. 

I turned to James, still shaking. “I should...I need to go home...” He whispered to himself, collecting his things. I decided to make sure he made it home safely. He did. 


	2. Conversations With The Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie and Forest are gonna have a little...chat.

For several years, I didn’t know I was a ghost. I wandered around doing the same things I had usually done, sat in the same classes, and saw the same people. It wasn’t until I saw my grave and my own funeral that I realized I was never seen or heard. I still forget sometimes that I can’t be noticed. I thought about that as I watched James work on his latest masterpiece. He had closed himself off in his room almost immediately after he had made it home. He seemed to almost have been magnetically drawn to his desk. 

So, there he was, and there I was, watching from a corner. I didn’t have the guts (or lack thereof) to leave him since he still seemed pretty shaken. Every so often, he would glance over his shoulder or out the window nervously, like he was expecting someone. I had no idea, but he was actually looking for me. 

After several hours of quiet working, he stood, stretched and started for the door. I thought he was going to get himself food or walk around, but he simply locked the door. Weird. He sighed as if he was preparing to do something difficult and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “What do you want from me?” He asked, turning around slowly. “I know you’re in here, and...and I’m recording just in case you try anything.”

His voice and hands were shaking. Who was he talking to? Me? 

“Where are you?” He demanded, his eyes searching the room. “Do something so I know you’re there. I know what happened this afternoon wasn’t me.” 

I stepped forward, trying to speak. I hadn’t tried talking in almost twenty years. Nothing happened. I looked around the room and my eyes fell on the desk. Of course. Writing. I wasted no time in taking a pen from the tabletop and writing a simple sentence:  _ I’m here. _ James nearly dropped his phone in shock when he saw my writing. I mean, don’t get me wrong, seeing a pen move on its own is pretty freaky. “Why are you...what do you...who  _ are _ you?” he stammered.

I sighed. I knew it was a mistake to make myself known. He looked so scared. I decided to make my answer as precise as I possibly could. I didn't want to overload him. 

_ I'm Forest. Like the trees.  _ I wrote.  _ I died almost thirty years ago here in this town. I promised myself I wouldn't interfere with the living. It looks like you're the exception.  _

I dropped the pen and waited for his response. He didn't say anything for several seconds but I could see him silently mouthing my words. 

After several repetitions of my statement, he spoke. “Well…Forest. Uh…that's a really cool name I guess. And pretty nice handwriting for someone who's been dead for awhile, I guess. Um…why did you decide to make  _ me _ the exception?” 

I froze and the lights flickered, making him jump. I fumbled for the pencil and scribbled my answer. 

_ Jamie,  _ I paised.  _ I can call you that, right?  _ He nodded.  _ Jamie, listen. I'm not sure I can tell you that without sounding weird. I guess I just decided you were…different. Also, my bad on the lights. Don't know what that was about.  _

He took the pencil and paper, folding the former in the latter. “I see. Forest…I…I need time to process all of this. You're welcome to stay I guess…just…just don't scare anyone else, OK?” 

He couldn't see me, but I nodded anyway, a sinking feeling growing in my chest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoot so I screwed up and now Chapter two is Here instead of a seperate work. I'm a dumbass...who does art so yeah follow me on insta @skeedoodles :,)))


	3. Power Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OH heck.

For the next week or so our interactions were relatively the same. Jamie would ask questions and I would write my answers. Occasionally, when he asked me about a particularly...difficult question, the lights would flicker. Neither of us could figure it out. 

After a particularly long session, instead of going to bed like he usually had, he said he’d be back in a few minutes and ran downstairs. True to his word, he returned with a packet of...batteries? 

_ What are those for? _ I wrote. 

He set the box down and picked out one of the AA batteries from it. “I want to try something. You seem to take...energy from lights. I wanted to see if you could take energy from this. Maybe...I could see you.” 

I set the pen down and took the small cylinder from his hands. I examined it for a minute, trying to see how this would work. As I was turning it in my hand, my fingers connected with the opposite sides of the charge. For a split second, I felt a shock surge through me and I dropped the battery. Jamie gasped. “I saw you...holy shit I  _ saw you.  _ Do that again.” I hastily picked up the small generator and held it between my fingers. The energy pulse returned but not nearly as shocking as before. Jamie’s eyes grew wide. “I can...you’re...oh my gosh...Ghost Adventures would have a field day if they saw you!” 

I snickered. “What's that?” I asked. I actually spoke. My voice sounded…weird. He smiled. “I guess I've got a lot to show you. First that, then...then memes? I guess. Then all the great movies. Oh my gosh! I have so much to show you!” 

He was mere inches from me now, his excitement nearly tossing him forward. The last rays of the sun cast glowing orange stripes across his face. I stared speechless for a second before snapping back to reality. “I'd love to hear about all of it.” I said, returning his smile. 

Before Jamie could start, someone called his name from down the hall. He turned so fast he nearly lost his balance. “I…I should probably go…” He groaned, turning back to me one more time before his name was called again, this time much closer. He sulked to the door and left, leaving me alone. I set the battery down and felt a sharp decrease of energy. That battery had almost acted as…a life force. Before I knew it, I was drifting off to sleep. It was the first time I had been tired in thirty years. 

In no time at all I could hear Jamie whispering my name. I opened my eyes and saw him standing almost on top of me. I reached for the battery and sat up. “Hey.” He jumped. “Hey it's just me. What's up?” 

He sighed and sat down next to me. “I just wanted to make sure you were still here.” He sat back, resting most of his weight on his hands. His hand simply phased through mine. He looked down at my faded hand cut off by his with a sigh. “You're here. I know that. You're just not… _ here.  _ It's weird, y'know?” I nodded. “I get that. You know what's even weirder?  _ Being here _ . Being seen. It's been thirty years, man,” I replied. He looked at me for a minute like he was trying to figure out something about me.

“How did you die?” He asked after a while. I felt the battery grow warm and steadily gain heat. “I don't want to talk about that.” I whispered hoarsely. 

“Why?”

“Because I don't.”

The battery grew hotter, making it steam and pop. He looked at me again. “Why not?”

“Because…because I don't know!” I growled, the battery popping and fizzing. 

He gasped and his hands flew to his mouth. “I'm sorry. I didn't…I'm sorry. Please tell me you're still here.” He said, his voice shaking. He continued to apologize quietly, his hands and voice shaking steadily. I wanted to comfort him. I tried to put his face in my hands, but my fingertips simply faded when they came close to him. I tried to speak, but I had become mute again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapters already!! Holy Heck!! Um yeah I'm hoping to make this into a full on novel eventually :,))

**Author's Note:**

> AAAAAHHHHH So this is the first story of my own original characters. I'm actually really proud and this will have several other parts so look for the next chapters coming soon


End file.
